All seasons are times to Get Out and Explore at a MetroPark near you! A seasonal photo of the March beauty of Hills and Dales by photographer Teresa Jack.
In this edition of the Volunteer Newsletter:
- Welcome Spring!
- Adopt A Park
- Conservation Tip - Are you composting yet?
- Volunteer Spotlight - Teriana Boddie: From Camper to Star Youth Volunteer
- Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities & Training
- Get Connected Tech Tip - Adding Volunteer Shifts to Your Calendar
- Staff Lead Thank You - Christine Northrup, Carriage Hill Riding Center
- Nature is Open - Getting ready for the season
Welcome Spring!
We have had opportunities to get involved and make a difference throughout the winter season, and indeed all year long. But, there's something really special about Spring. You know what we mean, a freshness to the air, the scent of flowers beginning to bloom, plants coming alive, birds chirping, the sun shining...is it the best season or what?! At Five Rivers MetroParks, Spring is a very special time, both exciting and busy. As we prepare for this coming season, we'd like to invite you to join us in our clean, safe, and beautiful parks as we work to protect our region's natural heritage and provide outdoor experiences that connect people in our community to nature.
Thank you so much for your dedicated support of Five Rivers MetroParks as volunteers!
You ARE the difference! Bring on Spring!
Adopt-A-Park is back Saturday, April 22nd!
ADOPT-A-PARK, MetroParks Earth Day service event returns Saturday, April 22nd from 9 am-Noon with 20 public projects across 15 MetroParks locations. Projects include native tree and shrub planting, invasive species removal, litter pick up, garden bed maintenance, mulching, fence repair, and more! 263 volunteers are needed for in-person projects including opportunities for youth volunteers ages 14-17, families, adult volunteers, and groups. Additionally, 125 Adopt-A-Park Litter Pick-Up Service Kits will be available for safe independent litter pick-up. There's something for everyone at this year's Adopt-A-Park!
Registration is required. View this year's in-person volunteer opportunities and sign up to volunteer today by clicking the blue volunteer button below.
Interested in reserving an Adopt-A-Park Litter Pick-Up Service Kit? Click here to reserve your kit and schedule your kit pick-up at one of our drive-thru service kit distribution dates.
This service event is generously supported by these sponsors: CareSource Foundation, Montgomery County Environmental Services, Keep Montgomery County Beautiful, and QEI Engineers.
Conservation Tip
Conservation at Home! Are you composting yet? Organic wastes, such as food waste and yard waste, make up 25 to 50 percent of what people throw away. While you may not be able to compost all of the organic waste you generate, composting can significantly cut down on your overall trash.
- Applying compost to your soil makes for happy plants and a better time tending your garden.
- Composting can help conserve all sorts of resources, including water, energy, and even money.
- Compositing also reduces the large amount of garbage that is sent to landfills, which pollutes the air.
- Composting can be used as a direct substitute for chemical fertilizers.
You can download a guide to composting here.
Teriana Boddie: From Camper to Star Youth Volunteer
Teriana, or "Miss T", as she's known around Adventure Central, started off as just one of the AC summer camp kids back when she was in elementary school, but lost touch with the program when it had to shut down during the pandemic. Now a student at Chaminade Julienne High School, Teriana learned she had to serve at least volunteer 25 hours at a local agency to complete her religion requirement. "I thought of Adventure Central right away. I knew I'd like to get back there," said Teriana.
Now, a regular volunteer at Adventure Central, Teriana spends her afternoons assisting kids with homework, playing outdoor games, and just getting to know them better by sharing a meal and conversation with them. Learn more about Teriana's volunteer journey here.
Thank you, Teriana for your outstanding commitment, dedication, and service to Five Rivers MetroParks!
Volunteer Positions, Upcoming Opportunities, & Training
Volunteer opportunities are sometimes lighter during the winter season, but new volunteer opportunities and volunteer training are being scheduled for Spring. Take a look at the highlighted opportunities and trainings below to see how you can continue to support your Five Rivers MetroParks this season.
Note: Some volunteer opportunities require annual training and check-off. You can see what is required for the volunteer opportunities you support by viewing the Volunteer Position description. If you have any questions, please contact volunteer.services@metroparks.org or call #937-275-7275 and ask to speak to a Volunteer Coordinator.
Looking for opportunities where we need the most help right now?
View our high-need, high-priority opportunities here.
Administration
Administrative volunteers work behind the scenes on a variety of projects to ensure that our frontline staff and volunteers have all they need to provide high-quality parks, programs, and services.
NEW! Volunteer Courier: Do you enjoy driving and customer service? Experience the changing seasons as you drive a designated route through the parks delivering mail to park staff. Courier volunteers promote operational efficiency by driving a Metroparks vehicle between park offices delivering packages, mail, and other items on Wednesdays.
Come to this informational meeting Wednesday, March 22nd from 9 am-10:30 am at our Main Office to learn more about the shift times, routes, and training requirements for this volunteer opportunity. This meeting is informational only and does not commit you to service, however, a Volunteer Coordinator will be onsite to assist those who would like to proceed with registration. Click the green RSVP button to sign up for this in-person training.
Ambassador
Ambassadors are often the first friendly face a visitor sees welcoming them to the park and can be counted on to share helpful information and answer a variety of questions. Are you a people person? Here is a great opportunity to share your enthusiasm for Five Rivers MetroParks, 2nd Street Market, and shopping local!
Volunteer Marcia Jurcsisn at Carriage Hill MetroPark Visitor Center supporting our Visitor Services team.
Visitor Center Ambassadors: These volunteers enhance the visitor experience by greeting, welcoming, and interacting with a variety of diverse audiences, and recommending all the best things to see and do while visiting our parks. This volunteer opportunity will be offered at Cox Arboretum MetroPark Visitor Center on weekdays and weekends and at the Carriage Hill MetroPark Visitor Center on the weekends only, Spring through Fall. Learn more and begin training as a Visitor Center Ambassador at an upcoming in-person training. View the training schedule and RSVP by clicking the green RSVP button below.
Animal Care
Animal Care volunteers support staff in caring for farm animals and wildlife animal ambassadors at a variety of our parks. These animals support MetroParks' mission by connecting the public to nature and education on local history, conservation, and small-site sustainability.
Barn Aide Volunteers: Spring Onboarding for new Carriage Hill Riding Center Volunteers is here! Do you love being around horses? Don't mind getting your hands a bit dirty? Consider joining our team of Carriage Hill Riding Center Volunteers! Barn Aide Volunteers assist with essential daily tasks of our equestrian facility such as cleaning stalls, turning horses out to pasture, and providing them with fresh food and water. All new Riding Center volunteers begin as Barn Aides, and then can complete additional training to assist with Pony Rides, Lessons, Camps, and Trail Rides. This opportunity is open to volunteers aged 14 or older. Click the green RSVP button below to sign up for this training.
Conservation
Protecting open space and natural areas is a priority for Five Rivers MetroParks, which protects nearly 16,000 acres of land - 90 percent of it in its natural state. Conservation volunteers are a part of our regional conservation story by assisting in implementing a variety of natural area management plans.
NEW! Tree Corps: Tree Corps has a New Name and a New Goal! In addition to trees and shrubs, the group will be growing herbaceous plants as well at Cox Arboretum MetroPark. Therefore, it makes sense to develop a new name that not only reflects this alteration to the tasks our staff and volunteers will perform but also captures the importance of what this group does - propagate native plants to be used for restoration and conservation projects throughout the district. INTRODUCING... drumroll please...
* PROPAGATION OPERATION or PropOps for short *
View the opportunities available and sign up to support by clicking the blue volunteer button!
Eastern Bluebird can be recognized easily, and our volunteers help ensure they have safe areas to nest.
Bluebird Monitors: Are you looking for an opportunity for you and your family to make a difference in YOUR MetroParks? Volunteers are needed to monitor eastern bluebird boxes throughout the bird's nesting season (March-August). Monitoring eastern bluebird nest boxes help us track local population trends, understand how bluebird populations are reacting to environmental changes, increase the number of bluebird nesting sites, and provide us with a great activity to connect with our parks and learn more about wildlife. Click here to review the Bluebird Monitoring Training and learn how you can volunteer to support this important project.
Invasive Species Removal - Taylorsville: Looking for an opportunity to get your hands dirty, take action in combatting invasive species, and make a difference? Join the knowledgeable staff and other volunteers as we cut and remove invasive species from Taylorsville MetroPark! View the opportunities available and sign up to support by clicking the blue volunteer button below.
Gardening
Gardening volunteers support our horticulture and education staff in caring for a variety of gardens throughout our parks. These gardens not only provide beautiful spaces for Miami Valley residents to get outside, explore, and connect to nature, but many also provide fresh local produce to those in need in our community.
Public volunteers plant bulbs at Cox Arboretum MetroPark.
Gardening: Spring is here! Monday, March 20 marks the first day of spring and if you've been eager to Get Out & Garden, our horticulture staff would love the extra help. While volunteer opportunities at Aullwood Garden and RiverScape MetroPark have been in full swing, we're happy to announce opportunities are now available to sign up at Cox Arboretum MetroPark. And beginning March 14, volunteers can sign up to volunteer at Wegerzyn Gardens MetroParks. View all of our gardening opportunities and sign up to support by clicking the blue volunteer button below.
Note: These volunteer shifts are WEATHER DEPENDENT. If you have responded to a shift, keep an eye out in your email inbox for a message from your Staff Lead regarding potential cancellations.
Park Maintenance
Five Rivers MetroParks provides clean, safe parks and conservation areas for the public to enjoy year-round. Our Park Maintenance volunteers help to manage and sustain 18 beautiful parks, 11 conservation areas, and 160 miles of hike, bike, mountain bike, and horseback-riding trails for park visitors to safely enjoy.
NEW! Hay Bale Delivery Team: Hay is for horses, and our horses at the Riding Center eat approximately 2,400 bales of fresh hay annually! Hay Bale Delivery Team volunteers will use the assembly line method to unload, lift, carry, stack, and store 200-300 hay bales onsite at the Carriage Hill Riding Center on delivery days throughout the year. Volunteers should be comfortable lifting 60-pound bales repeatedly. Click the blue volunteer button to respond and be added to the contact list for hay deliveries scheduled periodically throughout the year.
Trail Maintenance - Taylorsville: Do you enjoy hiking our trails at Taylorsville MetroPark? Come learn, grow, and give back to the trails you love with this exciting trail maintenance volunteer opportunity! Learn alongside other trail users on the why's and how's in maintaining a sustainable trail system as you work together to clear and open-up corridors to improve the hiking experience. View the opportunities available here and sign up to support by clicking the blue volunteer button below.
Programming
Five Rivers MetroParks provides a wide variety of high-quality programs to help the public get outside and get connected to nature. Programming volunteers work alongside staff to provide support at programs year-round that help participants master new skills, learn about the natural world, and appreciate the value of open spaces.
Volunteer Jerry Lamb guides a group of students through a habitat to discover who lives there.
School Program Naturalists: Five Rivers MetroParks offers a wealth of onsite educational programs for area school groups. These programs are adaptable to a multidisciplinary curriculum and meet Ohio Academic Content Standards Benchmarks. School Program Naturalist volunteers are needed to support these guided programs. Volunteers should enjoy working with youth, be comfortable in nature, and be excited by new discoveries!
New and returning volunteers should plan to attend the 3 day Spring training for School Program Naturalists:
- Day 1 - March 22: Welcome back guides!
- Day 2 - March 29: Habitat Safari
- Day 3 - April 5: Butterflies and Bees
This training will focus on resources and best practices for working with students in nature and cover two of our most popular guided programs for Spring, Habitat Safari, and Bees and Butterflies. Training will be held in the Learning Lab at Cox Arboretum MetroPark. Volunteers should dress for the weather and for being outdoors for each of these sessions. Registration is required for all 3 sessions. View training details and RSVP by clicking the green RSVP button below.
Program Support for Paint-A-Park Classes: Enjoy the outdoors and help others discover the beauty all around. Program participants will capture the moments through art. Program support volunteers will be assisting participants in getting set up, making sure each participant gets the individualized attention needed, and assisting the staff lead in creating a relaxing opportunity for art discovery. Each month the class will be at a different MetroPark site. View the volunteer opportunities available to provide program support for these programs by clicking the blue volunteer button.
Whether you have fishing skills and experience or not, we could use your support at our fishing programs!
Program Support: Fishing Programs have returned and are gearing up for a fun season! No fishing experience is required to provide program support. Program Support volunteers help build access, comfort, convenience, and safety into our programs for all interested in learning and they enable more individualized support for first-time learners in our skill-building programs by welcoming participants, helping them check-in, and complete waivers, passing out and collecting supplies, and assisting with the program set up and tear down. For those with fishing skills and experience, you can help by providing one-on-one assistance to new learners. View these program support volunteer opportunities and sign up to help by clicking the blue volunteer button below.
A fresh tap on a maple tree starts the process for making maple syrup.
Historic Interpreters: It is maple sugar time, and a great opportunity for volunteers to share how the process is done! Our Historic Farm at Carriage Hill MetroParkwill be hosting Maple Sugar Days on two weekends in March, and Historic Interpreter volunteers will be needed to support these programs. If you're qualified as a Historic Interpreter volunteer, you're ready to sign up. Please click the blue volunteer button below.
If you have not yet qualified as a Historic Interpreter volunteer but are interested, we'd like to invite you to learn more and begin training here. Shadow Experiences will be available for those volunteers in training but not yet qualified.
Skilled Trades
Five Rivers MetroParks takes pride in the variety of hands-on, skilled trades opportunities we offer, both in historical and modern-day settings. Our Skilled Trades volunteers help drive our mission forward by assisting with maintenance projects in fabrication, repair, and interpretation.
Volunteer Phillip Campbell shows his finished product from the blacksmith shop and explains how it was made.
Did you know that our Historic Blacksmith and Historic Woodworker volunteers are also trained as Historic Interpreters at Carriage Hill MetroPark's Historic Farm? We are gearing up for a busy spring season and could use your help in these volunteer opportunities. Interested volunteers can learn more and begin training here. Have questions? Email Volunteer Coordinator Yvonne Dunphe at yvonne.dunphe@metroparks.org
Note: Historic Blacksmith and Historic Woodworker volunteers must complete the Historic Interpreter training before beginning their historic skilled trade training.
Volunteer Ellen Eveland shows off her sample, a small drawstring purse, for the upcoming Sewing Machine Basics program.
Textiles: Do you enjoy helping people learn new skills? Volunteers with textile skills can participate in workdays and program support. In March, volunteers are needed to support our Staff Lead and Education Coordinator, Deb Spencer, as she introduces students to sewing basics, offering individualized assistance, to help them become more proficient with a sewing machine. Learn more and sign up to support this program by clicking the blue volunteer button below.
Special Events
Five Rivers MetroParks provides an array of outdoor events and large programs throughout the year for residents of the Miami Valley to get connected to recreation, music, history, family, and most of all nature. Special Event volunteers serve a critical role in ensuring that each special event or large-scale program runs smoothly from set-up to tear-down.
Save the date for spring and summer special events! Many volunteers like to plan for our special events, and some of the spring and summer opportunities can already be found on Get Connected!
Volunteers Michael and Karen McCarty alongside Executive Director and volunteer Becky Benna serve up the breakfast at last year's Bike to Work Day event.
Bike to Work Day will be at RiverScape MetroPark on Friday, May 19th from 7 am - 9 am with all the activities you love including the free pancake breakfast. Volunteers will be needed for set up and tear down, as well as breakfast support. Details for Bike To Work Day including available volunteer opportunities can be found by clicking the blue volunteer button below.
The Annual TVT Challenge will be back at the Twin Valley Trail on Saturday, June 3 from 7 am - 8 pm. Volunteers are needed for set up, tear down, and to support hikers as they participate in this fun, non-competitive hiking challenge from 1 to 28.7 miles along the Twin Valley Trail. Details for the TVT Challenge including available volunteer opportunities can be found by clicking the blue volunteer button below.
Get Connected - Tech Tip
Adding Volunteer Shifts to Your Calendar
New! In our recent Get Connected Site Volunteer Survey, volunteers told us that it would be helpful to be able to add their scheduled volunteer shifts to their preferred electronic calendar. Well, now you can! When you respond to a volunteer opportunity you will be given the option to create a calendar event for your Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Office 365, or Apple Calendar. Thanks for this great suggestion! Try it out and let us know how it works. Don't forget to share your opportunity on social media and invite others to get outside and give back this Spring with Five Rivers MetroParks!
Bonus: You can now easily find and refer back to these Get Connected Tech Tips on our Volunteer Blog as separate monthly entries with subtitles to help you find the tips you're looking for. View all of our Tech Tips here.
Did you know MetroParks has a blog? Nature is Open provides articles of interest and can lead to new discoveries. It is still early enough to get yourself prepared for the spring season, and this short article can help you get started.
Thank you for volunteering!
Volunteer Services
Volunteer Services is available for you if you have questions or need assistance in signing up. Contact us at volunteer.services@metroparks.org or #937-275-7275.
Your Volunteer Services Team
Candy Holloway - Horticulture & Sustainability #(937) 275-5006
Yvonne Dunphe - Outdoor Connections Programming #(937) 277-4147
Allie Zimmerman - Parks & Conservation #(937) 274-3176
Janelle Leonard - Business Operations & Visitor Services #(937) 277-5445
Jenny Hymans - Human Resources Manager of Volunteer Services #(937) 567-1413
